The present inventive concepts relate to multi-processor computer systems, and more particularly, to methods and systems for dynamically allocating thermal budgets for multi-processor systems.
Computers are used in myriad applications throughout the world. One trend in the computer space is the increase in the number of processors per system, particularly in computer server systems. In conventional multi-processor server systems, each processor has its own fixed fraction of a total thermal budget. Each processor evenly and equally shares the total thermal budget all of the time. The total thermal budget is based on worst cases predictions and evaluations. System designers design for worst case to reserve thermal budget for each processor. A fixed thermal budget, or thermal design power (TDP), plus a guard band, is used in attempts to ensure sufficient and stable operation.
But for most cases, the load on each processor is not evenly distributed. In other words, one processor might have a high load and may reach the thermal budget limit for its fraction of the total thermal budget, while another processor in the same system might have extra unused thermal budget. As a result, thermal budget is wasted and the dynamic performance of the server system is limited.
What is needed is a technique for dynamically redistributing the thermal budget to each processor from the total processor thermal budget based on the workload of each processor. Together with related inventive concepts disclosed herein, these and other limitations in the prior art are addressed.